Chapter 8: A Mutual Interest
Naruki City
A few hours have passed, and Chad is still meandering through the streets of Naruki, confused as to how he is supposed to find Xcution's second hideout. After a few more minutes of this, he suddenly notices Ginjo standing a distance down the road.
Chad approaches, prompting Ginjo to address the large boy with an apologetic look, "Sorry, I forgot I didn't tell you where the other hideout was. I figured I'd just wait in the open until we crossed paths again and take you there with me… were you followed?"
"I don't think I was followed.", Chad replies after shaking his head.
Ginjo waits a moment to see if the boy has anything else to say before responding, "Follow me."
The pair walk through the city together for a few more minutes before arriving at an even more shabby-looking apartment building than before. Ginjo walks up to one of the doors and knocks on it in a specific pattern.
There are sounds of locks being unlatched before the door creaks open, revealing Yukio greeting the two, "Yo."
After the pair enters the room, Yukio redoes a series of locks on the door before reassuming his position on a couch a distance away.
Ginjo tilts his head toward the boy, "Hey Yukio, has Kurosaki made any progress with her Fullbring training?"
Chad turns his attention to the boy at the mention of the young girl as well.
Yukio sighs yet doesn't bother looking away from his game, "She's been having issues. Riruka's methods are a pain…"
Chad looks around the room, across a not-quite-so-exquisite bar near the door compared to the original, before turning back to Yukio with a confused look, "What do you mean? I don't see Yuzu anywhere…"
Ginjo grabs a bottle of liquor from behind the bar and samples before regarding the larger teen, "Riruka's Fullbring ability lets her place items, including other people, into something she likes—in her case that something is a Dollhouse."
The large teen tilts his head in mild confusion, "But why would you want to place Yuzu in a Dollhouse…?"
While pouring some liquor into a shot glass, the black-haired man replies, "Riruka can also place the souls of other people into plushies. We've found that training newbies is quite effective this way."
Chad is silent, which Ginjo takes as a sign to explain further, "This stems from the basic Fullbring ability to manipulate the souls of physical objects. It's known as Reishi Subjugation. In Riruka's case, that has evolved into an ability to capture and store souls into objects she likes, but for you, it's manipulating the Reishi, or rather, Reiryoku in your physical body and focusing it into your arms, most likely."
The boy nods in satisfaction, understanding the general idea, "I think I get it. Thanks for the explanation."
Across the room, Riruka stands in front of a table with an irritated look. On top of the table rests a dollhouse, currently without a roof, which is roughly the size of her torso. Inside the dollhouse, Yuzu's seemingly shrunken form is hiding behind a miniature plastic bench, which is the size of a tree compared to her.
"What are you doing?! Fight with Mr. Piggie! Stop being a useless coward and use your Fullbring already!", Riruka shouts at the girl as she is looking down in the dollhouse from above.
Yuzu, near tears, shouts back at the girl, who is a giant compared to her, "YOU JUST THREW ME INTO THIS DOLLHOUSE WITHOUT ANY EXPLANATION! HOW CAN YOU EXPECT ME TO FIGHT THIS GIANT PIGGIE AND ACTIVATE MY POWERS WHEN YOU WON'T EVEN TELL ME HOW?!"
The teenage girl shouts at the younger girl again, "HUH?! Using Fullbring is easy! It's not something I need to explain, even a baby could do it!"
The blonde girl groans in frustration at the older girl's words before jumping out of the way to avoid being flattened under an oversized pig plushie's punch. It is at this point that Yukio, having been trying to play his video game throughout the last couple minutes, finally has enough and places his game down on the table in front of him before rising from his seat on the couch and approaching Riruka.
The pink-haired teen glances at the boy, still irritated, "Yukio? What do you think you're doing?!"
The boy gives her a brief look before looking away and answering nonchalantly, "Doing what you refuse to—actually being helpful."
Riruka gawks at the boy as he looks inside the dollhouse and regards Yuzu, "Pro tip Kurosaki: you should focus on something that gives you good feelings—like pride or love. If your cape or that bracelet on your hand is important to you, one of them should do the trick. If so, think about why they are important."
"Hey! That's cheating, Yukio!", Riruka hisses, attempting to start an argument with the boy, however, both he and Yuzu ignore her.
Yuzu looks down at the Quincy Cross hanging from her left wrist as her eyes widen in realization, "Mom's Quincy Cross! This should work!"
The girl begins to think about the feelings of admiration, pride, and love she has for her mother, prompting the cross to briefly spark green. The pig plushie is about to punch Yuzu but pauses as her cross flashes green once more before a full bow made of green Reishi forms in her left hand. The plushie stares in slight fear as he hesitates, feeling the raw power radiating from the girl. This causes him to look up at Riruka in an almost pleading manner.
The girl, however, glares at him uncaringly, "You still have to fight her, Mr. Piggie… that is if you ever want me to let you go…"
This prompts the pig to immediately charge at Yuzu, startling the girl. Yuzu instinctively fires a blast of Reishi from her bow at the pig, which, despite completely missing its mark, blows a hole through the side of the dollhouse. Both Riruka and the pig gawk at the display of raw power. Even Yukio's eyes widen a bit at the scene.
The blonde girl sheepishly rubs the back of her head, "Sorry… you just startled me so much Mr. Piggie that I guess I couldn't control my power…"
"YOU'LL HAVE TO PAY FOR THAT, KUROSAKI! THIS DOLLHOUSE IS ALIMITED EDITION, I'LL HAVE YOU KNOW!", Riruka screeches, prompting Yukio to visibly cringe as he covers his ears with his hands.
The boy slowly removes his hands from his ears after the pink-haired teen lets out her rage, "Geez Riruka, she already said she was sorry… besides, you should've expected a newbie to trash your stuff—you could've thrown her into any old cardboard box for this training session…"
"Cardboard…? YOU TAKE THAT BACK! MY DOLLHOUSE IS NO MERE CARDBOARD BOX!" Riruka hisses at the boy.
Yuzu filters out Yukio and Riruka's banter as she is now focused on the pig, who seems to be frozen in place, muttering something about dying.
The blonde girl attempts to give a reassuring smile, "Don't worry, Mr. Piggie! I promise my next shot won't be as strong! …I hope…"
The pig braces itself fearfully as Yuzu tries to do… something resembling the motion of drawing a bow. She fires her next shot, but once again completely misses her target, although this time the attack fades before coming close to a wall in the dollhouse, signaling that the attack was indeed less powerful as promised.
"Huh? I'm not dead? I'M NOT DEAD!", Mr. Piggie cheers in relief.
Yuzu frowns in apparent disappointment, making an overall pouting expression, "That one missed too… looks like I'll have to keep trying…"
Mr. Piggie ceases his celebrations at this. Yuzu begins to run toward him, once more making her poor attempt at drawing her bow. Mr. Piggie squeals and starts running away from the girl as she fires her next attack, which, again, horribly misses.
"Come back, Mr. Piggie! I need to hit you!", the girl calls to him innocently as she chases him around the dollhouse.
The pig tries to barter, calling back to her, "N-no way kid! I'd prefer to keep all my stuffin', you know what I mean? Can't you just let me off easy?"
Yuzu pauses briefly, seemingly considering the pig's words before nodding, "I think I understand…"
The pig looks at her with hope in his eyes, "Then you mean you'll give up—"
A green Reishi arrow flies past the pig's head, giving him his answer.
"Aw shucks… missed that one too…", the girl pouts.
"I'M STAYING AWAY FROM YOU, KID! YOU'RE DANGER!", Mr. Piggie screams as he once more runs for his life.
"Please stop running, Mr. Piggie! This will only make things harder for both of us!", Yuzu argues as she continues firing inaccurate shots at the pig.
A Few Hours Later
The last thing Yuzu remembers was trying to fire another shot at Mr. Piggie before immediately finding herself back to normal size outside of the dollhouse.
"That took longer than I expected, but I suppose you still passed the first test. Congratulations Kurosaki, you're now a Fullbringer.", Riruka remarks with a somewhat bored expression.
Yukio, who is playing his game on the couch again, doesn't bother to take his eyes off the game as he remarks, "It would've taken much longer if I'd let you have your way…"
The twin-tailed teen snarls at the boy, "And who asked you anyway, HUH?! I was TRYING to teach her to think for herself!"
The blonde boy sighs as he sets down his game and rises to his feet, "Shut up already… your voice is annoying."
This prompts Riruka to fume in anger, looking as if she wants to slap the boy for his insolence.
Before she can think of a counter, however, Yuzu suddenly runs to the boy and hugs him, catching him completely off guard, "Thanks for the help, Yukio!"
Yukio blushes slightly as his eyes widen in shock, "I-it's no problem…"
The girl breaks the embrace, still beaming, which causes Yukio to look away awkwardly.
"T-too wholesome!", the boy thinks.
Yuzu tilts her head in confusion, before wearing a concerned expression, "Are you feeling okay?"
The girl slightly lifts the boy's hat so that she can feel his forehead, "You don't seem to have a fever…"
Yukio suddenly backs away slightly, "I-I'm fine! Don't worry about it."
This exchange causes Ginjo, seated at the bar, to chuckle a distance away before regarding Chad, seated next to him, "Seems there's the making of young love in the air. ~"
The black-haired man then promptly takes a swig of his liquor.
Yuzu speaks to Yukio once more, however, the boy zones out her words, his thoughts shifting towards the topic of parents, "She's proud of her mother… I can't say I relate. Though, I wonder… I wonder if I would feel such feelings for my parents if I didn't—NO! I REFUSE TO CONSIDER IT! THEY GOT WHAT THEY DESERVED! …Right…?"
The boy nods to whatever Yuzu seems to have told him before seeing himself back to the couch and resuming his game as she appears to have finished speaking to him.
The blonde girl looks to her side to see a large, middle-aged man who looks at her briefly with a hint of fear and confusion before he regards Riruka, "Can I go home now?"
The pigtailed girl carelessly answers as she is fiddling with her dollhouse, "Sure."
Before the man has a chance to walk out, Riruka turns on her heel and forces a phone into his hands.
She states uncaringly, "If we ever need your help again, you'll get a call. You'd better come because I know where you live."
The Pigman has a glimmer in the corner of his eye, "Say… could I get paid for this?"
This prompts Riruka to wiggle a heart above her finger, a sign that she is about to activate her Fullbring, which causes the Pigman to break into a cold sweat.
The Pigman stutters, "I-I retract my previous statement."
Riruka grabs the heart in her hand, which balls into a fist, "Good. Now leave."
The Pigman nods politely before turning and walking out of the front door. Yuzu tilts her head, thinking the exchange was odd before both Ginjo and Chad walk up to the girl, each congratulating her on her progress.
"Good job Yuzu.", Chad states with a smile.
Ginjo smirks, nodding in agreement, "Yeah, I could sense your Reiatsu even when you were in the dollhouse. Work on that aim of yours, and you'll give Hollows and Shinigami a run for their money!"
Yuzu rubs the back of her neck, "Thank you! I agree that my archery skills aren't the best, but I'll do my best to improve them!"
The black-haired man sweat drops, thinking to himself, "Your target was a comparative giant. 'Not the best'? That's putting it mildly…"
The blonde girl looks to Chad with a curious gaze, "Were you able to get Fullbring too, Chad?"
The teen nods, flexing his right arm to reveal the red and black one he used to kill Shrieker.
Yuzu suddenly has stars in her eyes as she begins to fangirl, "Woah! That looks so cool—like something from an anime!"
Chad smirks at this, sweat dropping at the girl's enthusiasm.
Just then, a thought strikes the boy, causing him to regard Ginjo with a serious expression, "Hey Ginjo. Could you explain to us exactly what Shinigami are? You said they would kill us if they found us… I want to know what we're dealing with if we ever need to fight them…"
Yuzu looks at Xcution's leader as well, interest evident on her face.
Ginjo returns the serious expression, "Well, it's kind of a long explanation… I'll try to be as thorough as possible without confusing you. For starters…"
Skies above Karakura Town
Aizen stands in the skies above Karakura Town as a Senkaimon opens to reveal five Shinigami led by a short female Shinigami with a band on her arm, signifying her position as a vice-captain.
"Welcome, members of my loyal Squad 5. I apologize for calling you here on such short notice. I hope it hasn't caused any of you trouble.", the bespectacled captain looks over the group with a, albeit fake, concerned look on his face.
Momo Hinamori, Aizen's vice-captain, responds to him with great vigor, "N-not at all Captain Aizen! We are honored for the opportunity to serve alongside you!"
The other Shinigami have similar reactions to Momo, although not quite as enthusiastic.
"It gladdens me to hear that you all feel that way. I was correct to choose you six, my most trustworthy followers.", Aizen smirks graciously as he briefly strokes Momo's hair, causing the girl to blush lightly.
The brown-haired man then shifts to a serious expression, "It saddens me; however, that the circumstances for which I have called you are less than ideal. This Hollow, White, has forced the Soul Society to take desperate measures, thinning out the forces we have to deal with the day-to-day spiritual occurrences. I thought it wise that one of the squads here should focus on dealing with such occurrences, so I volunteered for the job. I just couldn't bear the thought of any of my squad members coming into direct contact with such a fearsome Hollow as White."
The Squad 5 members look touched by Aizen's last statement, particularly Momo.
"That's why we always follow you, Captain Aizen! You always have our well-being in mind!", the girl states in admiration.
Aizen chuckles, "I'm no saint, but it is good to hear you feel that way."
The man proceeds to pat the girl's head before continuing, "Now, I'll be counting on you all to eliminate any stray minor Hollows that pop up. Could you all do that for me?"
Momo and the other officers nod enthusiastically, stating simultaneously, "Of course, Captain!"
Aizen gives them all a smile, "I don't know what I'd do without Squad 5 by my side…"
Karakura Town
In the late evening, Yuzu and Chad are walking back home for the day, seeing as they both made significant gains. The blonde girl recalls her conversation with Ginjo before she left. After the man explained what exactly Shinigami are, she feels conflicted in viewing her father and Karin as enemies.
"They'd never come after me like Mr. Ginjo says Shinigami would… right?", Yuzu thinks to herself.
The girl immediately shakes her head, forcing herself to think about something else as she recalls Ginjo's warnings about her powers as they are now.
The man explained, without holding back, "Right now, you don't have enough training to be able to control your Reiatsu yourself. It seems to match your mood or state of mind, as it spikes to the level of a Shinigami vice-captain whenever you are caught off guard but plummets to nearly nothing when you are in a good or neutral mood. You'll have to train to control that… but there's also the issue of your aim. No Hollow is going to let you shoot at them for two hours like with Mr. Piggie—they'll take you out as soon as they realize your attacks aren't hitting them, as such powerful Reiatsu will make you all the more appealing for them to devour. If you can't fix that issue, then you'll have to come up with a different way of fighting…"
Yuzu, recalling the explanation her father gave to Karin about the Quincies, shakes her head, "NO! Quincies use bows! I will master the bow—like mom did!"
Regardless, this all means one thing to Yuzu—it means that she needs to wait even longer to learn how to fight. The girl sulks at the thought, prompting Chad, who had already noticed the girl having an internal conflict, to place a hand of support on her shoulder.
The blonde girl looks up to meet Chad's gaze, finding him giving her a thumbs up, "Don't get hung up on Ginjo's criticism. You've only just started fighting, so of course you'll need to learn the basics before learning more advanced techniques."
Yuzu nods, smiling as she appreciates the support. The pair part ways once they reach the gate at the side of the Kurosaki Clinic.
The girl waves to the older teen as he walks off, "I'll see you after school tomorrow, Chad!"
Yuzu walks through the gate, leading to the house's side entrance. She instantly notices a note with her name on it in the place of the one she left for Ryuken earlier. The girl removes the note from the door and immediately begins to read it, imagining Ryuken's voice as she does so.
"Next time, please give me a call before you decide to 'go off with friends'. Isshin will not let either of us hear the end of it if he thinks for even a second that you ran out behind my back and that I did nothing to stop you.
Furthermore, I understand you must be anxious to learn how to help others, through the field of medicine, of course, but be careful not to over-exert yourself. Your mother tended to do that… You will need some more patience until Uryu recovers, as I will be leaving your training to him. He might not have much talent, but he knows enough. I apologize that I am not doing it myself, but please understand that I have a hospital to run so I rarely have the time for something like that.
Lastly, I should warn you that being a 'nurse' in 'section Q' is dangerous, as many others—including fellow Qs, will act hostile towards you. I will explain more when I take you to school tomorrow.
Until then, don't forget that you can visit or give me a call anytime, my niece. Isshin should have left a number to call in the house, but in case he didn't, you will find my cell phone number below.
Regards, Ryuken Ishida"
"So formal… what did he mean about being a nurse in section—OH! I think I get it; he means Quincy… but why would other Quincies be hostile of each other…?", the girl ponders as she notices the phone number under Ryuken's signature.
Yuzu raises her hand to open the door to the house when a familiar voice calls out to her, causing her to pause mid-motion. She spins around to see the familiar face of the so-called Sternritter woman she met at the cemetery, wearing a completely different and much more casual outfit since the last time she saw her.
"Ms. Candice!", the girl shouts in recognition.
The woman smirks, "So, you do remember my—WAIT! What's with the 'Ms.'?! That makes it sound like I'm an old lady coming from you!"
Yuzu looks at the woman with a confused look, "What should I call you then?"
Candice clicks her tongue, "Just Candice will do for now… Anyway, seems like you're putting my cape to good use."
The blonde girl blushes lightly in embarrassment as the woman grabs part of the cape, casually inspecting it.
The girl shifts about skittishly, "Y-yeah, it kinda maybe sorta makes me feel like a main character from an anime or a superhero, y'know?"
The older Quincy blinks and is quiet for a brief moment before she wears a smile and begins to laugh, "Damn, you really are such a kid!"
Yuzu raises a brow as the woman continues to laugh, "Of course, I am! I'm only eleven…"
Candice suddenly stops laughing and deadpans at the reminder, "Oh, right…"
The Sternritter sends another glance at the cape before letting it fall from her hand, "In any case, at least you understand the importance of keeping your outfit clean and looking good! You'll fit right in with us!"
The girl stops her shifting as she raises a brow, "What do you mean…?"
A voice unfamiliar to Yuzu calls out, "She means you'll be joining up with my group!"
The blonde girl turns to see a second woman step out from the shadows around the corner of the house. The young girl stares at the dark-haired woman wearing pink glasses, who looks like an older teenager, making her appear younger than Candice. Despite her younger appearance, the black-haired girl dresses far more professionally than her counterpart. For some reason, Yuzu is far more intimidated by her than she was of lime-blonde woman when they first met, perhaps due to Ryuken's warning.
The woman has a somewhat predatory look in her dark purple eyes, "Honestly Candy, I expected more from this girl, considering even His Majesty sees potential in her. I can barely feel anything…"
The woman's words only seem to confuse Yuzu more, making her take an instinctual step back towards Candice, away from the unfamiliar woman.
The girl gives the lime blonde a worried look, "Candice, who is she? What is she talking about?"
Candice's expression softens slightly as she opens her mouth to explain, but the other woman cuts her off, "Oh! That's right, I almost forgot to introduce myself! My name is Bambietta Basterbine, one of Candice's colleagues! Although it is more accurate to say I am her friend!"
This causes the lime blonde to roll her eyes and mutter under her breath, "Right. Friends…"
Bambietta eyes the other woman before shifting her gaze back to the young girl, "Regardless, the two of us are here to take you back with us to become a full-fledged Quincy!"
Yuzu looks back up at Candice, confusion still evident on the girl's face.
"Look at me when I'm talking to you, girl!", Bambietta shouts at the younger Quincy, causing her to flinch and do as told.
The black-haired Quincy smiles at the girl's obedience and lifts her hand, motioning with her index finger for the girl to come closer, "Now come here so I can have a better look of your face."
Yuzu does as she is told once more and walks before the woman with her head tucked towards the ground.
"I told you to look at me!", Bambietta shouts again in reminder, causing the girl to tremble.
"Knock it off Bambi, you'll disturb the neighbors… Besides, we're running out of time…", Candice finally interjects, causing her companion's expression to soften.
The black-haired doesn't take her eyes off of the younger girl, inspecting her thoroughly, "Oh, calm down. We've got time. I want to get a better feel for this girl before we leave."
Bambietta then gives Candice a snide smile, "And anyway, since when were you ever one for being reserved on any level, Candy? You're supposed to be by far the loudest and most obnoxious of us."
A vein bulges on the lime blonde's forehead, signifying that comment irritated her, "You're one to talk…"
The black-haired woman ignores her companion and proceeds to place one of her hands on the girl's chin before lifting it to look at her face.
Meanwhile, the woman's other hand rustles through Yuzu's hair as she gives the girl a gentle smile, "Why, I'm not making you feel uncomfortable at all, am I sweety?"
Yuzu can tell from the look in Bambietta's eyes that there is a wrong answer to this question. It feels to the girl that answering incorrectly would not be unlike walking through a minefield—you might just trigger explosives.
Yuzu, beginning to panic, stutters out an incomprehensible response, which causes the woman to tug at her hair.
Bambietta gives the girl a friendly, yet unnerving smile as her brow twitches, clearly holding herself back from exploding on the her, "I didn't quite catch that. A proper lady should speak properly or not at all."
Despite her fear, Yuzu manages to answer the Quincy with an obvious lie, "I'm not uncomfortable…"
The woman loosens her grasp, giving the girl a gentle smile that betrays the look in her eyes, "That's a good girl. You can call me Bambi from now on. We'll get along just fine."
Bambietta then releases the blonde girl before regarding her companion, "See Candy? She's perfectly fine!"
Candice sighs as she looks off to the side, "Sure, whatever you say, Bambi…"
The dark-haired Quincy shifts her gaze back to Yuzu, "Now then, as for your clothes: you should certainly stop taking advice from Candy, or else you'll look like a skank—just like her. And no one likes a skank."
This comment causes the lime blonde to snort and mutter to herself, "Again, you're one to talk", earning her a glare from the other woman that shuts her up.
Bambietta, now with stars in her eyes, places an arm around Yuzu's shoulder, causing her to wince slightly, "I can see it now, Yuzu the youngest of our little group—professionally dressed to look like our little sister!"
The woman pauses briefly, the stars leaving her eyes, as she places her free hand on her chin, "But I suppose that we ought to come up with a nickname like me and Candy have if we want you to be a proper member of the group…"
This causes the girl to sweat drop as she wears a slight smile, playing along with the older Quincy's antics.
Candice sighs, shaking her head as she thinks to herself, "Bambi can have such a childish side at times… I don't understand how she's older than me…"
Yuzu, finally seeing an opportunity to speak, does so, "Um..."
The girl trails off, causing Bambietta to lightly clutch her shoulder, her eyes closed and smiling, overall, a lighthearted expression, "Now what did I just say about speaking properly?"
A bit of color leaves the girl's face as she attempts to say what she meant to say, very directly, "Candice told me—"
"Candy.", Bambietta corrects.
This causes Candice to yell at her partner, beginning to truly lose her patience with the other woman's antics, "OH, COME ON! Let the poor girl at least call us how she wants!"
Bambietta chuckles, "Now there's the Candy I know… anyway, don't you think that's a little hypocritical of you, since you didn't want her to call you 'Ms.' earlier?"
A small amount of light blue static sparks off the lime blonde's skin, which the black-haired woman takes note of as she gives her a look, seeing the woman becoming genuinely upset, "How odd, I've never seen Candy get this worked up over someone else… besides that time I killed a guy she was sleeping with… anyway, she's protective of this girl and they only met one time..."
Bambietta thinks about this a moment longer before she relents, "Fine, call us whatever you want. You aren't one of us yet anyway…"
This causes Candice to let out a sigh of relief while Bambietta finally releases Yuzu's shoulder.
The black-haired Quincy crosses her arms as she now regards Yuzu with a more serious expression, "Now, what did Candy tell you?"
The lime blonde cuts in before the blonde girl can answer, "We'll talk about that later. Come with us, Yuzu!"
The girl looks back and forth between the two women, before she looks at the front door and then finally back to Candice, "But I have school tomorrow…"
Bambietta lets out a laugh, genuinely amused, "HA! School?! Trust me, you'll have your hands full enough with your re-education as a Quincy where we're going!"
Yuzu scrunches her brow as the black-haired Quincy suddenly places an unwelcome hand on her shoulder. The girl instinctually tries to shake it off but begins to panic as she realizes that she is unable to.
Yuzu stares up at Bambietta, whose gaze is nearly ice-cold, as she hisses, "We're leaving. Now."
Candice pulls out a medallion from her pocket, preparing to do something with it but stops dead in her tracks as a voice calls out, "I came back to Karakura for some quality ramen and what do I find? A couple of Quincies holding my newest friend hostage."
The two Quincy women turn to find none other than Kugo Ginjo, holding a cup of instant ramen, standing near the gate of the Kurosaki Clinic. The women's eyes are widened in shock at the sight, not expecting to be called out like that. Candice looks back at Bambietta, whose shocked expression is the same as hers before turning her gaze back on the man, doing a double take.
Yuzu looks at Ginjo with pleading eyes, "Ginjo, help—"
Bambietta swiftly places a hand over the girl's mouth, shutting her up.
Candice glares at the man, asking carefully, "Who the hell are you? How do you know about us?"
The man smirks, "I've been around… It also doesn't help when I can hear you from the road."
The lime blonde glares back at her companion, who shrugs uncaringly, "Let's just kill him and get out of here."
Yuzu's eyes widen in horror at the casual remark, as if such an act meant nothing to her. Her horror further increases as she watches the green-haired woman reach towards her waist, evidently equally apathetic to the idea of murder.
Ginjo, however, smirks, holding up a warning finger, "Hold on there. Are you sure you want to do that?"
Candice frowns, "And why the hell not? Don't tell me you're a Quincy too!"
The man lets out a chuckle, "Me? No… it's just that, I don't think the Shinigami would be too happy to know that there are more Quincies than usual in town, especially ones intending to kidnap little girls."
The green-haired Quincy flinches, "Shinigami—?!"
Bambietta wears an agitated expression as she raises her free hand, charging a blue ball of Reishi in it.
Ginjo, having a feeling he will die if he takes that attack, pulls a small microphone out of his pocket, "See this?"
The man wags the device back and forth, prompting the Quincies to eye it cautiously as he elaborates, "This is a little thing we like to call a 'bug'. If I fail to report in every 5 minutes, then my allies will contact the Shinigami, and that little sense of secrecy you Quincies no doubt want is swept away. I know what happened 200 years ago—you sure as hell don't want the Soul Society looking for you."
Bambietta hisses, "You're bluffing!"
Ginjo meets the woman's gaze with a cold, serious one of his own, "Are you willing to take that bet?"
The dark-haired woman growls before swiftly canceling the attack, causing the Reishi to dissipate as she grits her teeth, looking as if she wants nothing more than to kill him, "Bastard…"
Candice gives the man a wary look as he smirks, putting the mic back in his pocket, "Wise choice… Now, let go of Kurosaki."
Bambietta begrudgingly does as she's told, prompting Yuzu to immediately dart over to Ginjo's side, standing behind him.
The girl, now with tears in her eyes, tries to explain, "They were going to take me away! I-I—!"
Ginjo gives the girl a reassuring look that puts her worries to rest, "I know… I heard enough to gather that much…"
The two Quincy women give each other a look before both sending the Fullbringer hostile expressions.
The man waves his hands defensively, "Woah! What's with those looks? I'm not your enemy, here!"
Yuzu and the Sternritters give Ginjo a look of confusion, the girl wondering, "They're not…?"
Candice hisses, "Yeah, you just threatened us! Ain't no way we don't consider you as our enemy!"
Ginjo sighs, looking at the ground for a moment with a blank expression before an idea pops up into his head.
He regards the Quincies with a jovial expression, raising his cup of ramen suggestively, "I can see that we all have a mutual interest in making Kurosaki more powerful… So, how about I treat the three of you to some noodles at Chen's Noodle House? I'm sure we can all come to some kind of agreement there…"
The two Quincies give each other another look, before nodding, albeit with discontent frowns on their faces.
Yuzu's brows furrow worriedly, as she watches the sun set in the sky, "I guess tonight's going to be long too…"
Author's Note:
I will explain how I think Yuzu can have both Quincy and Fullbring potential… well, maybe I can't because oftentimes Kubo isn't clear with how things all work together LOL.
Anyway, knowing that the shards/nails from the Soul King are merely a reason that Hollows are attracted to a Fullbringer, this leaves plenty of room for debate on how the shard of the Soul King itself plays along with other aspects of one's being. We know from the manga that Rangiku had a Soul King fragment as well, which Aizen had removed to place in his Hōgyoku. Furthermore, Quincies such as Gerard are large chunks of the Soul King (like the heart), not to mention Quincies in general have Soul King blood in their bodies, as Yhwach is the son of the Soul King. This means Soul King fragments play well with Quincy, Shinigami, Hollow, and Human aspects—as you would expect because it's the Soul King! (aka, the character that could easily solo the entire verse of Bleach… Hollows disintegrated in his presence).
The Twins' Powers and Hōgyoku:
Now, onto my head-canon for Yuzu (and by proxy, Karin); she has some Hollow blood in her that she inherited from the remnants of White still in Masaki. Further, the twins have the obvious Quincy and Shinigami blood from their parents. Note thatthe amount of Hollow blood in the veins of the twins is small, as White's presence was passed on to Ichigo. This left only residual traces of Hollow left for Masaki, making her impure to Auswählen and giving her resistance to Hollows (Isshin states this in the manga). It is for this reason that I do not intend to give Yuzu and Karin Hollow powers on the level of Ichigo's, which decreases their overall potential compared to him. They will, however, tap into basic Hollow abilities at the very least.
Also, onto the thing about the Hōgyoku—we don't really know the full range or scope of its abilities, just that it is a wish-granting device, essentially. This means that humans with spiritual awareness who want power but do not have it can awaken spiritual abilities through a force of will. This was essentially how Chad and Orihime got their powers in canon and is what I am rolling with here.
Please understand thatI recognize how this may not be completely plausible, but I'm not here to write a 100% plausible story—I'm here to write an interesting and fun story. I think giving characters like, say, Tatsuki, Yuzu, and potentially others Fullbring powers is definitely interesting, especially because it allows them to become more involved.